Hardly the moment felt like I was with a rock icon as we said a prayer-before-meal at his house. Truth be told, it reminded me of the opening candle prayer scene from Schindler’s List as the intonation of his voice sounded so much like that one heard on the Spielberg classic.
That part of my visit at the place of Mike Hanopol a few years back made quite an impression on me because, to be blunt about it, I was wondering why I was hearing a prayer led by a rabbi rather than sharing a rock n roll anecdote with someone who gave the word hippie a good alternative name. It was quite an odd experience to say the least. As a music journalist I usually don’t expect to be interviewing a rock god who raises both his hands up in the air and delivers a chant.
I couldn’t help but likewise, recall that scene I witnessed at then Hard Rock Café in Makati further back when the audience started glancing at each other because jeproks Mike was kind of preaching while doing some spiel during a Juan Dela Cruz Band show. There he was preaching amidst the presence of longtime bandmate Pepe Smith who was having a good time urging the same crowd to give up using drugs and surrender them all to him!
In hindsight, Mr. Hanopol on both occasions was not trying to ruin a night or in my case, my day. He was just being the way he has always been: reinvented. When it appeared that he had a lot more to offer outside of his pioneering Pinoy rock trio, he went solo and coined the word jeproks with the monster hit “Laki Sa Layaw.” When writing rock songs wouldn’t suffice his versatility, he penned a number of novelty tracks meant to be sung by a boy band called Hagibis. Absurdly enough the public didn’t truly notice it was just Mike singing on their songs including their signature track “Katawan.” He had to reveal the truth himself.
Several years later, he informed me that he was riding on a train when he thought of the tune to “Lagot Ka” popularized by another hunk group called Masculados.
Quite unexpectedly, for someone who had made a big name for himself here, he opted to go to the US and, as the title to one of his solo songs implied, resorted to “Buhay Amerika.” He spent most of the 80s there and, as he told me, he chauffeured for international celebrities for a stretch, including for Julio Iglesias. He returned back home in the early 90s.
Reinvention never stopped from there. He became a practicing Messianic rabbi after converting to Messianic Judaism. You bet that after we had our meal that day, he shared with me the extent of his spiritual conversion. I can’t forget hearing him say, “Swerte ang mga Hudyo.” You’d believe him when he said it because of his conviction and intense delivery. That even if the Holocaust will always come to mind when discussing about the modern Jews.
Sadly the prolific songwriter and schooled guitarist just got back in the news after he contracted Covid-19. The good news is, he’s recovering, or should we say, has actually beaten it — and at age 75 at that. Not all rock stars from his era die young and someone like him could get past even a pandemic. A concert in support of him is being set come July 24 in Florida, headlined by Paul Sapiera of Rockstar fame. The benefit concert is simply billed as “Tulungan Natin.”
Even if only for the countless young rock wannabes his music had inspired, whether as a member of that legendary band or as an equally well-received solo act with a distinctive get-up and amiably rebellious attitude, Hanopol deserves a tribute in whatever form. For not everybody realizes the magnitude of his contribution to the growth of Pinoy Rock.
Yes, Pepe was the flamboyant face of their band; but Mike was the virtuoso whose singing voice had more weight and definitely more talented as a tunesmith and lyricist. Just a quick look at the list of hits he wrote would settle the argument: “Balong Malalim,” “No Touch,” “Titser’s Enemi No. 1,” and “Kahit Anong Mangyari.” The fact that he was the band’s official bass player put him among the few noted Pinoy rockers who sang lead while playing the traditionally four-string guitar.
On his own, Hanopol is a very good guitar player in his own right and when he started his solo career became identified with his trusty Steinberger TransTrem headless guitar as his instrument of choice. In one of his previous interviews, Mike cites legendary Australian jazz guitarist Frank Gambale as among his biggest influences.
Simply put, if the Eraserheads had their John Lennon in Ely Buendia, he was Juan Dela Cruz Band’s Paul McCartney – technically second billing-wise, yet dominating by a long mile. No other band in mainstream local rock boasts of such a member.
Yet, while he could have bragged about it, I don’t recall ever hearing him sound like he did. He even noted, “Iba si Pepe.” He also doesn’t mince his words, which reflects his blunt honesty. He told me, “Nung panahon namin noon sa Juan Dela Cruz, kahit marijuana lang ang bayad sa amin tutugtog kami.”
We surely would wish that’s an exaggeration. No problem otherwise. It was the nature of the times. Rockers then weren’t trying to be cute or business-like. Talents like Mike Hanopol were just enjoying themselves without care and at the same time inadvertently laying down the foundations of Philippine rock as we know it today.
At some point in our conversation, he recalled with a laugh that day he commuted to a record label office to submit a song while virtually having no money in his pocket. He mentioned the name of now Senate President Tito Sotto as the executive who cared to listen to what he composed.
It was kind of Mike to welcome me to his home located in Antipolo for an exclusive interview after I expressed that it would be great to speak to him at a leisurely pace. I just read he was in a different place when he contracted that pesky coronavirus.
Prior to that rock star’s home visit, I would meet him in press conferences, or in FILSCAP gatherings where he’d often nod his head to say hello.
While overshadowed by his signature solo hit, “Umiikot-ikot” is a track of him that I really like because it shows his trademark emphatic musical hook and simply said inspirational words in an arguably finer mix than his older songs. May I warn you that chances are the chorus will go round and round in your head, too; last song syndrome in full throttle, and good luck if you can easily find a more recallable melodic punch. The bridge part says it all: “Kung ang lahat ng bagay ay kusang lumilipas/Gamitin mo ang iyong galing at husay/ Pagkat hindi magtatagal ika’y lilipas din.”
It remains subject to debate if the word jeproks for which Mike will always be identified with had already lost its charm. But we may all agree that it has gone to a new level of relevance, like the word bagets. Both have earned quite a status unlike outdated expressions like dead na dead or kadiri to death. The same goes with Mike Hanopol who will never be some forgotten rock star. Besides, how are we supposed to forget someone who at one point in his life was the epitome of a Filipino hippie and many years later became the first Filipino rabbi? Talking about reinvention.